A Bit Like a Volcanic Eruption (that's what love's like)
by TheSilverArgents
Summary: "I hope you fall in love one day, Clara, and that you realize it out of nowhere too. That's what you told me!"


_A/N: Okay so you guys should read the Evolution of Tactility (amongst other things) so you guys can fully understand what happens in the second half of the fic. This was so much fun! Beware, this is long. Send in prompts, review or favorite, guys! All of that good stuff keeps me going! Enjoy!_

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"Okay, are you three prepared for what your about to witness?" Clara asked trying to add to the suspense she had built up.

Davey rolled his eyes at her dramatics, but nodded along with Sarah while Les enthusiastically shouted, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" at the top of his lungs. Clara had shown up during her lunch break with a bag that held baking soda and vinegar claiming she had something exciting to show Les. After lunch, Sarah led them all out to the rooftop of the building when Clara warned that her little demonstration would get messy which led them to their current position. Currently, the Jacobs' siblings and Clara Wyman were all on the roof laying stomach down, crowded around a glass beaker waiting for some chemical reaction Clara swore was interesting.

"Executive Assistant Les, would you please pass me the vinegar?" Clara asked, getting down to business.

"Here you are Doctor Wyman." Les said back in the same business-like tone.

Davey watched Clara bite back a smile at the title and he bumped her shoulder with his. She turned to him and made a point of elbowing him in the arm and he let out a small laugh.

"You two are lovely, honestly. But, to be quite frank, I don't really enjoy lying on a hot roof." Sarah piped up a a teasing smile on her face.

Clara cleared her throat and turned back to the beaker. She poured out enough vinegar to nearly reach the halfway marker on the beaker and then asked Sarah for the baking soda. Les had his nose wrinkled at the smell of the vinegar, but his eyes were still curious as to what was about to happen. Clara grabbed a spoon from the bag she brought in and scooped out a large spoonful of baking soda and counted down, "5, 4, 3, 2, 1!" and dumped the baking soda into the beaker.

In almost an instant the beaker began filling up with white foam that quickly spilled out onto the hard concrete of the roof. "Neat!" Les cried as the foam trickled towards his arms while Sarah and Davey clapped and laughing in astonishment. Clara bowed her head as if she were receiving some great honor and caught sight of Davey's wrist watch. "Is that the time?" she inquired.

Davey nodded and she began cursing in fluent French under her breath. Davey smiled and asked in surprise, "You speak French?"

Clara nodded distractedly and grabbed her purse, mussing up Les's hair and squeezing Sarah's shoulder in quick goodbyes. Davey got up grabbing the baking soda and vinegar and following her to the fire escape, "Do you need this back?"

"No, don't be silly, I brought it for Les." Clara replied turning to him and reaching up to kiss him quickly, "I'm sorry, I really have to go. Tell your mother that lunch was great." She kissed him again, "I'll see you later, okay? I love you. Bye." She swiftly turned and made her way down the fire escape leaving Davey frozen in place.

He heard Sarah come up behind him and ask what was wrong and he turned to her, "Wrong? Uh, nothing's wrong. But, uh, um, Clara just said that, uh…" he trailed off a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"Gosh, David, spit it out!" Sarah urged him.

"She said she loved me?" He said it like a question, but a full blown grin was plastered on his face.

Sarah nodded carefully, "Because it wasn't obvious, right?"

* * *

Clara Wyman was in panic mode. Once she'd gotten off the fire escape and was being taken to school by the trolley she'd realized what she'd said. "Oh my god." She whispered. She took a deep breath to calm herself, "Oh my god." Her trolley driver turned to her and asked if she was alright. "I love him." she whispered. Her driver raised an eyebrow and she shook her head, "Um just, please just take me to the Sun."

"The newspaper?" He asked staring at her warily.

"Yes, of course I mean the newspaper." She retorted.

"Just checking, Miss. Lucky for you, we're real close." He made a quick left turn and she saw the building. When the driver stopped the trolley she got off, payed him, and ran into the building. She slid into the elevator at the last possible second and gave the elevator operator Katherine's floor. She closed her eyes and took deep breaths, half panicking over the 'I love you' situation and the other half of her was panicking about the elevator.

When the elevator came to a halt she let out a long exhale and thanked the elevator operator. She scurried out of the elevator and into the sea fof cubicles. "Katherine!" She called, not caring about the stares she'd undoubtedly receive. Sure enough, men turned their heads reproachfully at her, but a head of chestnut curls sure enough turned around to look at her. Her best friend waved her over and Clara all but ran to Katherine's desk.

Katherine raised an eyebrow at her expectantly, but her features morphed from "not-quite-amused-you-interrupted-me-at-work" to "oh-god-you-took-the-elevator-what-happened" and Clara launched into an explanation of what ensued on the roof. When she was finished she plopped into a spare chair Katherine had next to her.

They were silent for a moment before Katherine asked, "So you're in love with him?"

"I-I think so. I mean, we're going on eleven months, eleven _amazing_ months. He's sweet, funny, smart, charming, I mean, I could go on and on and on. And there are also days where I wish I could kill him and _trust me_ when I say I know many ways to kill someone. But then he'll say something or smile or just be there and it's okay." Clara rambled while she jiggled her leg.

When she finished, Katherine raised a single eyebrow in response.

"Oh my god, _I love him_." Clara whispered.

A smirk pulled at the corner of Katherine's lips and she leaned forward, placing a hand on Clara's knee to cease the jiggling. "Okay, so would you say you realized you loved him out of nowhere?"

"Um, I suppose so." Clara sighed a feeling of weightlessness filling her.

Katherine pumped her fist and spun around in her chair. "I've been waiting for this moment since the day I realized I loved Jack!"

Clara loved at her and remembered the day Katherine realized she loved Jack.

"_I hope you fall in love one day, Clara, and that you realize it out of nowhere too._ That's what you told me!" Clara exclaimed aiming a kick at Katherine's ankle while she laughed raucously.

"Out of nowhere?" A familiar voice asked from behind them.

The girls turned to see Davey standing there, hands stuffed in his pockets. The air seemed to leave Clara's body and Katherine let out a low whistle, gave Davey a quick wave and turned back to her typewriter.

"Um, what are you doing here?" Clara asked getting up and brushing her skirt off of invisible dirt.

"I came to see you. I, uh, guessed this would be the first place you'd go." Davey said rocking back on his heels.

"Am I that predictable?" Clara asked pouting a little bit.

Davey laughed and shook his head, "Trust me when I say you're about the most unpredictable person I know, Clara Wyman."

They both thought back to the roof and Clara blushed. "How about we go for a walk?" He asked

Clara let out a relieved sigh and nodded. She turned to Katherine, "We're going."

"Mmm-hmmm." Katherine hummed slyly. Clara gave her a playful shove and left her cubicle with Davey trailing behind her. They walked in silence to the elevator and waited in silence until the elevator opened. The operator welcomed them in and they stepped in and asked for the lobby. When the doors came to a close, Clara took a shaky breath and the elevator made it's way down. She counted backwards from ten in her head and when she reached eight, a hand twined itself with her left one.

She turned towards Davey who was looking down at the ground and biting his lip. _Oh god, she __**loved **__him_.

When the elevator stopped and opened at the lobby they thanked the operator at the same time and stepped off hand-in-hand. They made their way out of the building. As they got further and further from the building Clara resolved to be the first to say something. "You know what, elephant in the room time. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable with what I said on the roof, but that's how I fee-"

She couldn't even get the rest of the word out before his lips were on hers, kissing her in a way he usually did in private. His hands framed her face and she was holding onto the collar of his shirt. He finally pulled away after what seemed to be many years and she let out a shuddering breath.

He pressed his forehead to hers and whispered, "I love you too."

Clara released a relived sigh and attempted to sound indignant, "You know, you shouldn't interrupt people so rudely. I had this brilliant speech about my feelings and that if you didn't like it you could shove that in a place where the sun doesn't shine and and and…." She trailed off because he was smiling at her now now and she couldn't think properly when he was smiling that way and so close to her.

Davey laughed softly, "Alright come on then, we have a walk to finish."


End file.
